From 2000-2011 I worked as an Automatic Transmission Clutch Engineer for Ford Motor Company in Livonia, Michigan. Many of those years was devoted to designing and launching the 6F35 transmission for the Ford Taurus and Edge. As a component engineer I worked with many different suppliers that tooled up the production lines to make the new clutch components. Once production began I often helped these suppliers to work through production issues and troubleshoot failures.
I enjoy problem solving challenges and got plenty of practice with this job. Automotive Transmission design requires high precision and tight tolerances for manufacturing, which often led to emergency issues that needed a quick and safe solution in order to keep production up and running. It also requires knowledge of several industries including aluminum casting and machining, stamped steel processes, rubber molding, and friction paper development.
Clutch components are each manufactured by experts in each field and are pre-assembled at another supplier before delivery to the Ford transmission assembly plant. The image here is an example of an assembly of components I designed and managed each supplier to work together to create the product for final assembly.
I also became the resident expert on snap rings (#7 in the image), and developed a tool to evaluate new designs and help other engineers choose appropriate materials, sizes and shapes for their applications.
